I'm rewatching The Walking Dead season one for the very first time. It's been, like, 10 years or something. Number one, I'm so glad my instincts were right about Lori and Rick's marriage. In my Richonne WIP I wrote they got married young and now I've just watched Lori say this, so it's canon! But the thing that gets me, is the conversation she has with her friend as she waits to pick Carl up from school (before discovering Rick has been shot pre ZA). What type of toxic communication was she hankering for?
You want your husband to blow up on you and call you a bitch? You're pissed off that he's actively trying to be reasonable and talk to you with respect?
While I respect Lori backing Rick that one time in the woods when Carol was blaming him for Sophia going missing, I can see why their marriage was so unhealthy.
Lori says Rick doesn't communicate, as he discusses with Shane in the cop car. But then Rick elaborates that when he tries it pisses her off and she becomes impatient.
This is why Richonne as a ship, and specifically Michonne as a partner, as Rick's wife, as his friend, is elite, because not once did you see her handle disagreements by disrespecting him or provoking him on purpose.
My theory is they were way too young to get married and not mature enough, Lori specifically. Because Rick was still trying. Also saying I don't think you care about *us* (Lori and Carl) to Rick in front of Carl is gross and would have confused the heck out of Carl.
In my AU, they were high school sweethearts but I would love to explore when Lori started talking to Rick crazy and why she was questioning if she still loved him.
I also think that brief conversation at the school, indicates why Lori was attracted to Shane. Shane is rough AF and less likely to put up with her BS. And of course there's the your-best-friend-my-husband-is-apparently-dead-factor- let's-get-it-on.
Thank God Michonne came into Rick's life with that baby formula. Imagine your first wife and mother of your kid being mad at you for not being aggressive or talking abusively to her. That's so toxic.